When one thinks of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, they probably don’t think of gaming. However, that’s just what took place in PyeongChang, South Korea over the past few days. Intel hosted the Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang tournament ahead of this year’s winter Olympics to “showcase the excitement and influence of esports.” The tournament pitted 16 of the world’s best StarCraft II players against each other in a winner take all tournament.

“The Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang demonstration ahead of the Olympic Winter Games was an exciting moment for gamers around the world to see the industry elevated to this global sporting stage,” said John Bonini, vice president and general manager of the VR, Gaming and Esports Group at Intel. “Intel is leading the growth of esports, not just with the best gaming products and technology, but also in elevating esports to every global stage, reaching new audiences, and paving the path to the next billion fans.”

The competition took place over three days between February 5–7th. After the dust settled, Canadian Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn — and the only female to qualify for the tournament — beat out South Korea’s Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin in an upset to win the $150,000 prize pool. The full results are below:

The Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang was held in with support from the International Olympic Committee and in partnership with ESL.

What do you think about Intel and the IOC featuring esports just before the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang? What do you think about the results and the prize pool that was up for grabs? With games like Chess and Bridge applying for Olympic game inclusion, do you think video games could be far behind? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

About Techaeris

Techaeris was founded in 2013 by Alex Hernandez and covers a spectrum of information related to technology, gaming, entertainment, science, art, photography and life. The mission of Techaeris is to offer honest reporting, unique stories, news coverage, product information and reviews, as well as social interaction with our readers. We strive to remain objective and open minded about technology and label opinion pieces as such. We’re glad you’ve decided to stop by and have a read. We hope you stay, invite some friends, and come back again and again!